ATLANTA - Matt Ryan took an awful beating. Another win for the Falcons will make the pain a lot easier to take.

Shaking off a career-high seven sacks, Ryan completed a 59-yard pass to Roddy White with about a minute remaining, setting up Matt Bryant's 40-yard field goal that kept Atlanta perfect this season with a 30-28 victory over the Panthers on Sunday.

After squandering a 24-14 lead in the second half, the Falcons needed a crucial fumble by Cam Newton to even have a chance - and they still faced long odds when the Panthers downed a punt at the Atlanta 1 with 1:09 remaining.

Ryan had no timeouts and surely some doubt about how much time his beleaguered offensive line would give him. He then dropped back about as far as he could, threw it about as far as he could, and relied on White to go up and make the catch.

He did, between two defenders.

Bryant's kick won it with five seconds remaining.

"We made the plays when we needed to," said Ryan, who passed for 369 yards and three touchdowns. "That's what you need to do week to week in this league."

Newton threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score - but he let the ball slip away when it looked as though he had clinched the win for the Panthers.

"You have to protect the football," Newton said. "That was a key focus going into this game, and I fumbled."